That’s why a fan frenzy has built up around the chestnut-colored 3-year-old from the wrong side of the continent. But you don’t need to follow the blue-blood sport of thoroughbred racing to understand why this would be the greatest equine saga since Seabiscuit.

Here’s everything you need to know to get rearing for California Chrome’s run for the post — airing Saturday on NBC at 4:30 p.m. ET — which would make him the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.

He’s from nowhere, California

Coalinga, California — birthplace of California Chrome.

Image: Google Maps

Thoroughbreds are supposed to come from Kentucky — and no California horse has ever won the Triple Crown. But California Chrome isn’t just from the wrong coast; he’s from the dusty middle of nowhere. Born on Harris Farms in Coalinga, California, the horse hails from a part of the state where oil rigs and tumbleweeds pass for landmarks.

The staff sure had fun watching the Kentucky Derby, though:

His parents are nobodies, his owners are "dumb asses"

His momma, Love The Chase, won only one race in her life; business partners Perry Martin and Steve Coburn bought her for a paltry $8,000 and paid another $2,500 to breed her with Lucky Pulpit, who had an unremarkable career cut short by a respiratory infection.

Another horseman told the partners that only a “dumb ass” would do such a thing. They named their venture “Dumb Ass Partners” (DAP for short) and made their logo a green mule.

The “chrome” in his name implies a disadvantage

California Chrome with exercise rider Willie Delgado at Belmont Park on June 5.

Image: Al Bello

California Chrome is named for the flashy white blaze on his nose and four white stockings — called “chrome” in the horseracing world. That means his hooves are white as well, which are softer and more prone to developing problems. So far, his hooves have stayed healthy … mostly.

Is it the shoes?

California Chrome's custom shoes.

Image: Al Bello

California Chrome started to develop “low heels” in his second year, and his farrier tried out a new style of hard-rubber horseshoe that raised them. But rather than gluing them on as designed, he custom-drilled holes into them and nailed them to California Chrome’s hooves in the traditional metal style. That raised the soles slightly farther off the ground — and was the beginning of the horse’s six-win streak that he’s carried into the Triple Crown.

He’s got tons of personality, but is “kind of a laid-back dude”

California Chrome "smiles" for the camera while getting a bath at Belmont Park on June 5.

Image: Rob Carr

Just look at the photos: you can tell this horse knows he’s a star. He’s been noted for his distinct curiosity and several unusual behaviors, including posing for cameras — even “smiling” (an animal behavior called the “flehmen response.”)

He has a fondness for one specific brand of horse treat — won’t eat any other kind, his owners say — and will only back out of transport trailers, even if they’re designed for forward exit.

His 77-year-old trainer is finally having his moment

As a jockey, Art Sherman has been around the Sport of Kings for a good long while, and touched the Kentucky Derby in 1955 as the exercise rider for 1955 winner Swaps. He spent the next several decades training horses in central California, and had his share of success locally and regionally.

Then a few weeks ago, he became the oldest trainer to win the Run for the Roses. Now Sherman, who lives in Rancho Bernardo and looks and sounds more than a little bit like Joe Pesci, is looking at a Triple Crown.

The jockey bond

California Chrome with Jockey Victor Espinoza at Belmont Park on May 31.

Image: Rob Carr

California Chrome had trouble winning consistently until he saddled up veteran jockey Victor Espinoza, who won his first Kentucky Derby in 2002 aboard War Emblem. The duo hasn’t lost since. Espinoza, who grew up riding horses on his family’s farm in Mexico, donates 10% of his earnings to children’s cancer research.

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